Freedom of speech versus blasphemy
Encyclopedia
Tension often exists between political freedom
, particularly freedom of speech
, and certain examples of art, literature, speech or other acts considered by some to be sacrilegious
or blasphemous
. The extent to which this tension has not been resolved is manifested in numerous instances of controversy and conflict around the world.
Although many laws prohibiting blasphemy have long been repealed, particularly in the West
, they remain in place in many countries and jurisdictions (see Blasphemy laws). In some cases such laws are still on the books, but are no longer actively enforced.
The issue of freedom of speech versus blasphemy cannot be seen in isolation from the role of religion as a source of political power
in some societies. In such a society, to blaspheme is to threaten not only a religion, but also the entire political power order of the society, and hence, the official punishments (and popular responses to blasphemy) tend to be more severe and violent.
A non-exhaustive list of modern incidents which have led to public outcries
, persecution
, calls for murder, or other forms of repression
are set out below.
Freedom (political)
Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...
, particularly freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
, and certain examples of art, literature, speech or other acts considered by some to be sacrilegious
Sacrilege
Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object. In a less proper sense, any transgression against the virtue of religion would be a sacrilege. It can come in the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things...
or blasphemous
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
. The extent to which this tension has not been resolved is manifested in numerous instances of controversy and conflict around the world.
Although many laws prohibiting blasphemy have long been repealed, particularly in the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, they remain in place in many countries and jurisdictions (see Blasphemy laws). In some cases such laws are still on the books, but are no longer actively enforced.
The issue of freedom of speech versus blasphemy cannot be seen in isolation from the role of religion as a source of political power
Political power
Political power is a type of power held by a group in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth. There are many ways to obtain possession of such power. At the nation-state level political legitimacy for political power is held by the...
in some societies. In such a society, to blaspheme is to threaten not only a religion, but also the entire political power order of the society, and hence, the official punishments (and popular responses to blasphemy) tend to be more severe and violent.
A non-exhaustive list of modern incidents which have led to public outcries
Moral panic
A moral panic is the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order. According to Stanley Cohen, author of Folk Devils and Moral Panics and credited creator of the term, a moral panic occurs when "[a] condition, episode, person or group of...
, persecution
Persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...
, calls for murder, or other forms of repression
Political repression
Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take political life of society....
are set out below.
Christianity
- In 1886, American freethinkerFreethoughtFreethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas...
Robert G. IngersollRobert G. IngersollRobert Green "Bob" Ingersoll was a Civil War veteran, American political leader, and orator during the Golden Age of Freethought, noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism. He was nicknamed "The Great Agnostic."-Life and career:Robert Ingersoll was born in Dresden, New York...
defended Charles B. Reynolds, a Boonton, New JerseyBoonton, New JerseyBoonton is a town in Morris County, New Jersey that was chartered in 1867. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 8,347. The town was originally called "Boone-Towne" in 1761 in honor of the Colonial Governor Thomas Boone....
man on blasphemy charges. Reynolds lost the case and was fined $50, which Ingersoll paid himself. Ingersoll's defense of Reynolds cast serious constitutional doubts on blasphemy laws and few states have attempted to prosecute a blasphemy charge since. - In 1951, Italian neorealistItalian neorealismItalian neorealism is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors...
Roberto Rossellini's 40-minute film, titled The MiracleL'Amore (film)L'Amore is an anthology film directed by Roberto Rossellini starring Anna Magnani and Federico Fellini. The two segments are "Il Miracolo" and "Una Voce Umana", the latter based on the play The Human Voice by Jean Cocteau...
, sparked widespread moral outrage. The film centred around a man, "Saint Joseph", who villainously impregnates "Nanni", a disturbed peasant who believes herself to be the Virgin Mary. Protesters in Paris picketed the film with vitriolic signs carrying messages like "This Picture Is an Insult to Every Decent Woman and Her Mother," "Don't Be a Communist," and "Don't Enter the Cesspool." It was criticized as "vile, harmful and blasphemous." After some pressure by the Catholic Church, the New York Board of Regents revoked the film's license on grounds that it was "sacrilegious." The film's distributor, Joseph Burstyn, subsequently appealed the decision, and in 1952 it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court as unconstitutionalUnited States ConstitutionThe Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
in the case Joseph Burstyn, Inc v. WilsonJoseph Burstyn, Inc v. WilsonJoseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, 343 U.S. 495 , was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court which largely marked the decline of motion picture censorship in the United States...
. - In 1966, DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
author Gerard ReveGerard ReveGerard Kornelis van het Reve was a Dutch writer. He adopted a shortened version of his name, Gerard Reve in 1973, and that is how he is known today. Together with Willem Frederik Hermans and Harry Mulisch, he is considered one of the "Great Three" of Dutch post-war literature...
was prosecuted for blasphemy, after a piece of prose he wrote described making love to God, incarnated in a three-year-old donkey. He was acquitted on the grounds that this was an artistic expression protected by freedom of speech. - Also in 1966, FinnishFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
author Hannu SalamaHannu SalamaHannu Salama is a Finnish author.- Biography and work :Hannu Salama was born in Kouvola, Kymenlaakso region in Southern Finland. He spent his childhood in the Pispala district of the city of Tampere, in a traditional working-class area with working class politics and culture...
was prosecuted and convicted for a book (Juhannustanssit) he had written two years earlier. His sentence was suspended, and he was finally pardoned in 1968. - Movies subjected to criticism over allegedly blasphemous content include The Last Temptation of ChristThe Last Temptation of ChristThe Last Temptation of Christ is a novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1953. It was first published in English in 1960. It follows the life of Jesus Christ from his perspective...
and Monty Python's Life of BrianMonty Python's Life of BrianMonty Python's Life of Brian, also known as Life of Brian, is a 1979 British comedy film written, directed and largely performed by the Monty Python comedy team...
. - Artist Andres SerranoAndres SerranoAndres Serrano is an American photographer and artist who has become notorious through his photos of corpses and his use of feces and bodily fluids in his work, notably his controversial work "Piss Christ", a red-tinged photograph of a crucifix submerged in a glass container of what was purported...
's photograph Piss ChristPiss ChristPiss Christ is a 1987 photograph by artist and photographer Andres Serrano. It depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist's urine...
, showing a crucifix immersed in urine, caused similar controversy, as did artist Chris OfiliChris OfiliChris Ofili is a Turner Prize winning British painter best known for artworks referencing aspects of his Nigerian heritage, particularly his incorporation of elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists, and is now based in Trinidad.-Early life:Ofilli was born in Manchester. He had a...
's painting The Holy Virgin MaryThe Holy Virgin MaryThe Holy Virgin Mary is a painting created by Chris Ofili in 1996. It was one of the works included in the Sensation exhibition in London, Berlin and New York in 1997–2000...
, which depicted a black African Mary surrounded by images from blaxploitationBlaxploitationBlaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
movies and close-ups of female genitalia cut from pornographic magazines. - In 1998, Swedish artist Elisabeth OhlsonElisabeth OhlsonElisabeth Ohlson is a Swedish photographer and an artist. In her works she often photographs representatives of sexual minorities....
showed her exhibition Ecce HomoEcce Homo (exhibition)Ecce Homo is a controversial exhibition of 12 photographs of different biblical situations, in modern surroundings, taken by the Swedish photographer Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin. The first vernissage of the exhibition was in Stockholm, July 1998 and attracted a lot of attention. As the exhibition was...
which features Biblical characters refitted with LGBT themes, including Christ as an AIDS victim. Bishop Tord Harlin of Uppsala said "At best it is bad theology, at worst it is blasphemy". - A British evangelical organisation, Christian VoiceChristian Voice (UK)Christian Voice is a Christian pressure group based in the United Kingdom. Its stated objective is "to uphold Christianity as the Faith of the United Kingdom, to be a voice for Biblical values in law and public policy, and to defend and support traditional family life." It is independent of...
led street protests against the BBC screening of Jerry Springer – The Opera, in which one actor wears a nappyDiaperA nappy or a diaper is a kind of pant that allows one to defecate or urinate on oneself discreetly. When diapers become soiled, they require changing; this process is often performed by a second person such as a parent or caregiver...
and later, whilst portraying the character of Jesus, says "I'm a bit gay". Christian Voice published the home addresses and telephone numbers of several BBC executives on their web site. This led to one of these people receiving death threats. Another organisation, the Christian InstituteChristian InstituteThe Christian Institute is a British evangelical Christian pressure group. The CI promotes a Conservative Christian viewpoint, founded on the belief that the Bible is inerrant and should be the authority on all of life...
attempted to level blasphemy charges against the BBC. These were rejected by the High Court. - The comedy film DogmaDogma (film)Dogma is a 1999 American adventure fantasy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also stars in the film along with an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Bud Cort, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, George Carlin, Janeane Garofalo,...
(1999) resulted in picketing and charges of blasphemy, and also "2 and a half" death threats made against its director Kevin SmithKevin SmithKevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
and producers BobBob WeinsteinRobert "Bob" Weinstein is an American film and theatre producer, the founder and head of Dimension Films, former co-chairman of Miramax Films, and current head, with his brother Harvey Weinstein, of The Weinstein Company.-Career:...
and Harvey WeinsteinHarvey WeinsteinHarvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
. - In 2002, the author of the Spanish public domainPublic domainWorks are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
personal computer game Slaughter Cofrade, known by the initials "J. C. C. S.," was formally accused by the Cristo del Gran Poder of violating section 525 of the penal code, which forbids any sort of "attack" on religious dogmaDogmaDogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
, beliefs, or ceremonies. His game depicted the shooting of characters robed in religious clothing and carrying Christian crossChristian crossThe Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity...
es. - In 2004, Jesus Dress UpJesus Dress UpJesus Dress Up is a game that was created by artist Normal Bob Smith in 1991 as a black-and-white colorform, which he photocopied and distributed to friends....
fridge magnets, which depicts a cartoon crucified Jesus in underpants and can be dressed in Satan pajamas, sparked national controversy in the US at an Urban Outfitters receiving more than 250,000 complaints after being featured on MSNBC. The retailer canceled all remaining orders with the magnet's creator Normal Bob Smith, then as a result of this attention an activism group called Laptop Lobbyists alerted the artist's web-hosting company and temporarily succeeded in shutting down the Jesus Dress Up web site. - In 2005 Marithé and François Girbaud's parodied Leonardo'sLeonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
religious painting The Last SupperThe Last Supper (Leonardo)The Last Supper is a 15th century mural painting in Milan created by Leonardo da Vinci for his patron Duke Ludovico Sforza and his duchess Beatrice d'Este...
in a publicity poster. The Catholic Church initiated a lawsuit against the Girbauds, sparking concerns regarding freedom of expression and blasphemy. The judge qualified the poster as "an insult to Christians." The lawsuit was eventually dismissed. - Gerhard HadererGerhard HadererGerhard Haderer is an Austrian cartoonist and caricaturist.-Biography:Gerhard Haderer was born in 1951 in Leonding, in upper Austria. He studied at a technical art school in Linz for four years from 1965, and then studied engraving in Stockholm. He returned to Austria in 1971 and worked as an...
's cartoon book The Life of Jesus was banned in Greece in 2003 under Greek laws of "blasphemy" and "insulting religion". In 2005 its author was given a six-month suspended prison sentence in absentia. Both the ban and the conviction were reversed in appeal after an outcry against the initial decision both in Greece and in Europe.http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Greek-court-lifts-ban-on-Jesus-cartoon-book/2005/04/14/1113251690792.htmlhttp://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1480744,00.html - In 2008 a punk festival in LinköpingLinköpingLinköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
used marketing posters showing Satan defecating on Jesus on the cross, under the slogan "Punx against christ!" The poster was taken down by the municipality of Linköping. The publication of the poster in the local newspaper Östgöta CorrespondentenÖstgöta CorrespondentenÖstgöta Correspondenten is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Linköping and has a circulation of about 60 000 copies every day. The stated position of the editorial page is liberal conservative. Östgöta Correspondenten was first published in 1838...
caused death threats to the editor-in-chief. - On 8 September 2011 Advertising Standards AuthorityAdvertising Standards AuthorityAdvertising Standards Authority may refer to:*Advertising Standards Bureau *Advertising Standards Authority *Advertising Standards Authority *Advertising Standards Authority...
, UK's advertising watchdog, banned Phones4U mobile phone ad featuring an image of Jesus Christ after receiving almost 100 complaints that it "mocked and belittled" the Christian faith. According to the watchdog the cartoon picture of JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
winking and giving a thumbs-up sign was "disrespectful to the Christian faith" and was "likely to cause serious offence, particularly to Christians."
Islam
- On August 18, 1925 The StarThe Star (London)The Star was a London evening newspaper founded in 1788.The first edition was printed on 3 May 1788 under the editorship of Peter Stuart. Founding sponsors of the new paper included publisher John Murray and William Lane of the Minerva Press...
(a now defunct LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
evening newspaper) printed a cartoon by David Low in which the Captain of the English Cricket team, Jack HobbsJack HobbsSir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
, was depicted as the towering statue in a 'Gallery of the most important historical celebrities' and the one to whom the others looked up. Among the others was Muhammad. Colin Seymour-Ure and Jim Schoff's book David Low notes "Harmless enough at home, the depiction of Muhammad meant that in India the cartoon 'convulsed many Muslims in speechless rage', as the Calcutta correspondent of the Morning PostMorning PostThe Morning Post, as the paper was named on its masthead, was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by The Daily Telegraph.- History :...
put it. Meetings were held and resolutions of protest were passed."
- On March 9, 1977, 12 African-American gunmen identified as HanafiHanafiThe Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...
Muslims seized three buildings in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, seeking to stop the screening of the movie Mohammad, Messenger of God and also to have certain prisoners released to them. Two people were killed, others injured, and others taken hostage for 39 hours. The film does not actually show Mohammad. See 1977 Hanafi Siege.
- In 1989, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n-born BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author Salman Rushdie was sentenced to deathCapital punishmentCapital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
for blasphemy by IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian leader Ayatollah Khomeini for Rushdie's depiction of MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
as a businessman in his novel The Satanic VersesThe Satanic Verses (novel)The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie's fourth novel, first published in 1988 and inspired in part by the life of Prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism and relied on contemporary events and people to create his characters...
. An Iranian businessman offered a $3 million reward to anyone carrying out the sentence against Rushdie. Other Islamic scholars followed suit, providing similar fatwaFatwaA fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
(legal pronouncement in Islam made by a muftiMuftiA mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
). In 1989, Khomeini died, making the fatwa permanent to those who follow his teaching. In 1991, Hitoshi IgarashiHitoshi Igarashiwas a Japanese scholar of Arabic and Persian literature and history and the Japanese translator of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. He completed his doctoral programme in Islamic art at the University of Tokyo in 1976, and was research fellow at the Royal Academy of Iran until the Islamic...
, the book's Japanese translator, was murdered at the university where he taught in Tsukuba, IbarakiTsukuba, Ibarakiis a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is known as the location of the , a planned city developed in the 1960s.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 207,394 and a population density of 730 persons per km². Its total area is 284.07 km².Mount Tsukuba, particularly well-known...
, 60 kilometres north of Tokyo. The book's Italian translator was beaten and stabbed in Milan. William NygaardWilliam NygaardWilliam Nygaard is a retired Norwegian publisher who graduated with a degree in economics in 1967. He is also chairman of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.-Business career:...
, the Norwegian publisher was shot in 1993. Thirty-seven people, who had come to listen to a speech by the translator and publisher (of some parts of the book) Aziz NesinAziz NesinAziz Nesin was a famous Turkish writer and humorist of Crimean Tatar origin and author of more than 100 books.-Pseudonyms:...
, a well-known satirist, perished when the hotel where they had gathered was torched in Sivas, TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
The post-Khomeini IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian government, while maintaining that the fatwa cannot be reversed, promised only in 1998 to dissociate itself from it. Rushdie stayed in hiding under police protection for several years.
- In May 1994, a fatwaFatwaA fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
on BangladeshBangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i writer Taslima NasrinTaslima NasrinTaslima Nasrin is a Bengali Bangladeshi ex-doctor turned author who has been living in exile since 1994. From a modest literary profile in the late 1980s, she rose to global fame by the end of the 20th century owing to her feminist views and her criticism of Islam in particular and of religion in...
came after she was quoted in The StatesmanThe StatesmanThe Statesman is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper founded in 1875 and published simultaneously in Kolkata, New Delhi, Siliguri and Bhubaneswar. The Statesman is owned by The Statesman Ltd., its headquarters at Statesman House, Chowringhee Square, Calcutta and its national...
that "…the Koran should be revised thoroughly." This follows attacks and persecution of Nasrin for her 1993 book LajjaLajjaLajja is a novel in Bengali by Taslima Nasrin, a writer of Bangladesh. The word lajja/lôjja means "shame" in Bengali and many other Indic languages. The book was first published in 1993 in the Bengali language, and was subsequently banned in Bangladesh, and a few states of India...
(Bangla word for 'shame').
- In 1997 Tatyana Suskin (also spelled Tatiana Soskin) was apprehended in HebronHebronHebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
while attempting to attach to an Arab storefront a drawing she had made depicting MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
as a pig reading the Koran. The incident created considerable tension, and she received a two year sentence.
- In 1998 Ghulam Akbar, a Shi'a Muslim, was convicted, in a Rahim Yar Khan court, of uttering derogatory remarks against Muhammad in 1995 and sentenced to death. He was the first to receive such a sentence under Section 295(c) of the Pakistani penal code.
- In August 2000 a LahoreLahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
court sentenced Abdul Hasnain Muhammad Yusuf Ali to death and 35 years' imprisonment for "defiling the name of Muhammad" under Section 295(a), 295(c), and 298.
- In 2001, prior to 9/11, American magazine Time printed an illustration of Muhammad along with the Archangel GabrielGabrielIn Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an Archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans from God.He first appears in the Book of Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions. In the Gospel of Luke Gabriel foretells the births of both John the Baptist and of Jesus...
waiting for a message from God. The magazine apologized for printing the illustration after widespread protests in KashmirKashmirKashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
.
- In June 2002 Iranian academic Hashem AghajariHashem AghajariHashem Aghajari also Seyyed Hashem Aghajari is an Iranian historian, university professor and a critic of the Islamic Republic's government who was sentenced to death in 2002 for apostasy for a speech he gave on Islam urging Iranians to "not blindly follow" Islamic clerics...
gave a speech that challenged Muslims to refrain from blindly following their clergy. His speech provoked international outcry, and, in November 2002, he was sentenced to death for "blasphemy against Muhammad."
- In August 2002, Italian police reported that they had disrupted a terrorist plot to destroy a church in Bologna, Italy, which contains a 15th century frescoFrescoFresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
depicting an image of Muhammad.
- In November 2002 an article in the NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n ThisDay newspaper prior to the upcoming Miss WorldMiss WorldThe Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...
pageant, suggesting Muhammad would have chosen one of the contestants as his bride, sparked riots that eventually claimed over 200 lives.
- In December 2002 Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winner Doug Marlette published a drawing that showed Muhammad driving a RyderRyderRyder System, Inc. , or Ryder, is an American-based provider of transportation and supply chain management products, and is especially known for its fleet of rental trucks. Ryder specializes in fleet management, supply chain management and dedicated contracted carriage. Ryder operates in North...
truck, with a nuclear rocket attached. He received more than 4,500 e-mails from angry Muslims, some with threats of death and mutilation.
- In 2004, DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
film maker Theo van GoghTheo van Gogh (film director)Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims...
and Ayaan Hirsi AliAyaan Hirsi AliAyaan Hirsi Magan Ali is a Somali-Dutch feminist and atheist activist, writer, politician who strongly opposes circumcision and female genital cutting. She is the daughter of the Somali politician and opposition leader Hirsi Magan Isse and is a founder of the women's rights organisation the AHA...
created the 10-minute film Submission. The film is about violence against women in Islamic societies. It shows four abused women, wearing see-through dresses. Qur'anQur'anThe Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
ic verses allegedly unfavourable to women in ArabicArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
are painted on their bodies. After the movie was released, both van Gogh and Hirsi Ali received death threats. Van Gogh was stabbed and shot dead on November 2, 2004, in Amsterdam by Mohammed BouyeriMohammed BouyeriMohammed Bouyeri is an Islamist Dutch–Moroccan and convicted murderer. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole for the assassination of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh. He holds both Dutch and Moroccan citizenship...
. A note he left impaled on Van Gogh's chest threatened Western governments, Jews and Hirsi Ali (who went into hiding).
- In February 2005 the Museum of World CultureMuseum of World CultureThe national Museum of World Culture opened in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2004. Its aim is to interpret the subject of world culture in an interdisciplinary way. The museum is situated next to the Universeum Science Centre and the amusement park Liseberg and close to Korsvägen."The museum interprets...
in GothenburgGothenburgGothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
decided to remove the painting "Scène d’Amour" by Louzla Darabi. The painting was part of a temporary exhibition about HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDSAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, and depicted a man and a woman having sexual intercourse. The artist and the curator had received numerous death threats from Muslims enraged over the Koran quotations which were featured in a corner of the painting. Some threats were telling the artist to "learn from the Netherlands", referring to the murder of van Gogh and threats against Hirsi Ali.
- On April 19, 2005 the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet broke the news that celebrity preacher Runar Søgaard in a causerie had called Muhammad "a confused paedophile," alluding to Muhammed's marriage with AishaAishaAisha bint Abu Bakr also transcribed as was Muhammad's favorite wife...
. Søgaard had at the same time also told jokes about JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and BuddhaGautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
. Søgaard received numerous death threats from Muslims and went on national television to apologise for his jokes. His apologies did not help, and Muslim extremists in Sweden contacted imamImamAn imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
s around the world in order to have a fatwaFatwaA fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
issued against Søgaard. Among the contacted ones were Abu Musab al-ZarqawiAbu Musab al-ZarqawiAbu Musab al-Zarqawi ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh was a Jordanian militant Islamist who ran a paramilitary training camp in Afghanistan...
. A fatwah with a death sentence against Søgaard was eventually issued by an African imam.
- In September 2005 the Tate BritainTate BritainTate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
gallery decided not to display a work by John LathamJohn Latham (artist)John Aubrey Clarendon Latham, was a British conceptual artist who lived for many years in England. He believed that violence and conflict between the people of the world is the result of ideological differences...
entitled God Is Great #2, made ten years previously, which consisted in part of a Koran, a BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and a TalmudTalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
that had been disassembled. The exhibition was close to the time of the July 7, 2005 London bombings which influenced the Tate's decision.
- In September 2005, the DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
newspaper Jyllands-PostenJyllands-PostenMorgenavisen Jyllands-Posten , commonly shortened to Jyllands-Posten or JP, is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Viby, a suburb of Århus, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies, it is among the largest-selling newspaper in Denmark...
printed twelve cartoons of MohammedJyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversyThe Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
which, four months later and fueled by interested parties, eventually led to massive unrest in the Muslim world (including more than 100 deaths), burnt embassies and international tension. In London, protestors carried signs saying, "Behead those who Insult Islam".
- In February 2006, activist Manfred van H.Manfred van H.Manfred van H. a.k.a. Mahavo is a German pensioner and political activist from Senden, Germany. On February 23, 2006, he was convicted in a court in Lüdinghausen of defamation of religious convictions in a manner suitable to disturb the public peace...
was convicted in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and sentenced to one year of prison on probation for mailing toilet paperToilet paperToilet paper is a soft paper product used to maintain personal hygiene after human defecation or urination. However, it can also be used for other purposes such as blowing one's nose when one has a cold or absorbing common spills around the house, although paper towels are more used for the latter...
stamped with "The holy Qur'anQur'anThe Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
" to mosqueMosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s and the media.
- In July 2007, Swedish artist Lars Vilks participated in an art exhibition themed "The Dog in Art" by portraying Muhammad as a roundabout dogRoundabout dogA roundabout dog is a form of street installation, that began occurring in the autumn of 2006, and continued for the rest of the year with sporadic occurrences since then. The phenomenon consists of anonymous people placing homemade dog sculptures, typically made of wood in roundabouts...
. He has subsequently received death threats and had to move out from his home (refer to article Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversyLars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversyThe Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy began in July 2007 with a series of drawings by Swedish artist Lars Vilks that depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a roundabout dog . Several art galleries in Sweden declined to show the drawings, citing security concerns and fear of violence...
for more information).
- In September 2007, a Bangladeshi newspaper published a comic that referred to Muhammad. Copies of the newspaper were torched and the cartoonist has been arrested.
- In November 2007, Unity High SchoolUnity High School (Sudan)Unity High School, founded in 1902, is an independent school in Khartoum, Sudan, which uses the English language and provides a British-style education to children. In 2005, it had an enrollment of some 750 pupils which range from 4 to 18 years of age...
in SudanSudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
came under attention after a teacher at the school was accused of allowing the class to name a teddy bear MuhammadSudanese teddy bear blasphemy caseThe Sudanese teddy bear blasphemy case concerns the arrest, trial, conviction, imprisonment and subsequent release of British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons working at Unity High School in Sudan in 2007.-Arrest:...
. The teacher was convicted of insulting Islam and was subject to death threats. The teacher was pardoned by Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on 3 December.
- A protest demanding WikipediaWikipediaWikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
remove images of Muhammed from all articles was started in February 2008. The main image in question is a painting of Muhammed in MeccaMeccaMecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
. Wikipedia refused to remove the images.
- FitnaFitna (film)Fitna is a 2008 short political, propaganda film by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders with his view on the religion of the Islam. Approximately 17 minutes in length, the movie shows selected excerpts from Suras of the Qur'an, interspersed with media clips and newspaper cuttings showing or...
, a film by Dutch politician Geert WildersGeert WildersGeert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
which claims the Koran incites violence was met with calls to block and censor the film's showing. "The correct Sharia (Islamic law) response is to cut (off) his head and let him follow his predecessor, van Gogh, to hell," a member of Al-Ekhlaas wrote.
- Gregorius NekschotGregorius NekschotGregorius Nekschot is the pseudonym of a controversial Dutch cartoonist who mocks political ideas about Dutch multicultural society and the behaviour of people with rigid religious or ideological views. Islam is frequently subject of his cartoons. Gregorius Nekschot publishes his cartoons and...
, a Dutch cartoonist collaborator of Theo van GoghTheo van Gogh (film director)Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims...
who was arrested in on May 13, 2008. His house was searched by ten policemen and his computer and sketch books were confiscated. He was held in jail for interrogation and was made to remove eight cartoons from his website at the request of the public prosecutor for being discriminatory for Muslims. The Netherlands police in a "project hatecrimes" ready to file complaints about cartoons.
- In 2010, the New York City Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
quietly withdrew all images of Mohammed from display out of fear of some Muslims who say the images are blasphemous. Kishwar Rizvi, an Islamic art expert at Yale University, said "Museums shouldn't shy away from showing this in a historical context".
Sikhism
- In 2002, the release of the video game Hitman 2: Silent AssassinHitman 2: Silent AssassinHitman 2: Silent Assassin is a stealth game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. Released for the Xbox game console on September 30, 2002, it is the second entry in the Hitman series and the sequel to Hitman: Codename 47...
sparked controversy due to a level featuring the killing of Sikhs within a depiction of their most holy site, the Harmandir SahibHarmandir SahibThe Harmandir Sahib also Darbar Sahib , also referred to as the Golden Temple, is a prominent Sikh gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab . Construction of the gurdwara was begun by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru, and completed by his successor, Guru Arjan Dev...
. An altered version of Silent Assassin was eventually released with the related material removed from the game.
- In 2004, a theatre in Birmingham, EnglandBirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, cancelled the performance of the play BehztiBehztiBehzti is a play written by the British Sikh playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti. The play sparked a controversy in the United Kingdom in December 2004. A controversial scene set in a Gurdwara included scenes of rape, physical abuse and murder. Some members of the Sikh community found the play deeply...
(Dishonour) by playwright Gurpreet Kaur BhattiGurpreet Kaur BhattiGurpreet Kaur Bhatti is a British Sikh writer. She has written extensively for stage, screen and radio.-Life:Bhatti studied modern languages at Bristol University and has worked as a journalist and an actress....
. The play depicted sex abuse and murder in a Sikh templeGurdwaraA Gurdwara , meaning the Gateway to the Guru, is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib ....
.
See also
- BlasphemyBlasphemyBlasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
- Censorship by organized religion
- Controversial newspaper caricaturesControversial newspaper caricatures-Muhammed cartoons and response:*The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, involving unflattering depictions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad first published in Denmark in September 2005 and subsequently in other countries, lead to wide-scale protesting and rioting.*On February 7, 2006 the...
- Culture warCulture warThe culture war in American usage is a metaphor used to claim that political conflict is based on sets of conflicting cultural values. The term frequently implies a conflict between those values considered traditionalist or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal...
- Depictions of Mohammed
- Everybody Draw Mohammed DayEverybody Draw Mohammed DayEverybody Draw Mohammed Day was an event held on 20 May 2010 in support of free speech and freedom of artistic expression of those threatened by violence for drawing representations of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad...
- Freedom of speechFreedom of speechFreedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
- TriumphalismTriumphalismTriumphalism is the attitude or belief that a particular doctrine, religion, culture, or social system is superior to and should triumph over all others...